IND vs ENG: Focus On The Cricket Ball Ahead Of Day-Night Test, Against England
With Ahmedabad's Motera stadium set to host India's second day-night Test, against England, here from Wednesday, all eyes will be on Sanspareils Greenlands (SG) pink ball that will be used in
This will also be India's third Test match with the pink ball, having played one in India with SG ball and another in Australia in December last year with the Kookaburra ball.
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The previous and the only Test played in India with a pink ball was played in November 2019, between India and Bangladesh with the match lasting just over two days which was too small a sample size to determine the behavior of the SG ball.
Of the three manufacturers using Test cricket balls - Dukes, made in England, is the third brand - India alone uses SG ball, though Bangladesh has used it sometimes.
The most popular brand of balls across the world remains Kookaburra, which is used in seven countries - Australia, South Africa, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Bangladesh.
Since the outer seam of Kookaburra is machine stitched, it dies down making it difficult for spinners to grip the ball.
Unlike Kookaburra, the outer seam of the SG ball, like its inner seam, is hand-stitched and is pronounced that allows the spinners to grip the ball easily. Its seam lasts long.
The Duke's ball is also pretty similar to SG as its seam is pronounced as well. It is, however, used only in England, West Indies, and Ireland.
